The Horror of Reality
by erinblake18
Summary: Esca has a dream. Marcus is horrified by what he hears. An author is annoyed. Tongue-in-cheek, borderline crack!fic. No slash.
1. Part One

**A.N./ So...yeah, so I was talking with my best friend and we were talking about how our favorites characters aren't real and how heartbreaking this fact is. Then a burst of inspiration: What if they _knew_ they weren't real? "MARCUS I JUST REALIZED..." Anyway, this fic was born. **

**I don't own the Eagle movie, or the book by Rosemary Sutcliff.**

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Marcus winced as his leg twinged in irritation. He really shouldn't be outside now, so soon after the quest for the Eagle and the whole running-from-the-Seal-people thing, but the spring air and his restless nature insisted he be outside. He lowered himself carefully onto the stone bench in the garden, looking out over the pond and smiling as he remembered all the times he and Esca had fished in it before they had left for the north.

His reminiscing was shattered cruelly by the sound of a slammed door in the house. Heavy, rushed footsteps pounded through the atrium and burst through the back entrance. Esca appeared on the steps, panting and looking about himself wildly. The Briton caught sight of him and instantly ran over.

"Esca," he said, his brow furrowing in worry as he stood up. "What's going on? You look like you've seen a—"

"I had a dream, Marcus," Esca broke in. His hands were shaking; he ran them nervously through his already mussed hair. His eyes darted around frantically, as if making sure everything was the same. "I had this horrible dream, there was a woman, she was in strange clothes and sat in some sort of odd chair and her face was painted with a lot of cosmetics and—"

"Wait, wait, calm down." Marcus gripped his former slave's arms tightly and forced him to sit down. "Just calm down and tell me slowly, eh? What did the woman do?"

Esca gulped down air as if he had had none for hours. Gradually his limbs stopped shuddering, though his eyes were still frightened and muscles tense. "I dreamed—I dreamed that she... _created us,_ " he whispered in horror.

Marcus's eyebrows lifted in confusion. "Created us?" he asked slowly. _Do I really want to know what this means?_ he added in thought.

"She imagined us," the Briton explained with a shudder. "We were nonexistent and she—she invented us in her mind. I dreamed that we—we were only characters in some created story. I dreamed—I dreamed—" His voice broke and he bent over, as if in pain. " _I dreamed that we aren't real."_

The Roman's eyes widen in sudden horrific understanding. "You mean—you mean that we're—we're just a figment of someone's _imagination?"_

Esca nodded solemnly, the despair evident in his face. "What if it's true? What if we're just shadows in somebody's mind and they things we say and do are not our own?"

"I will pray to Mithras," Marcus said abruptly, standing and beginning to make his way to the house. "Surely he will show us what to do."

"But don't you see?" Esca gasped desperately. "If what we do is made up by this woman—then how do we know she does not control our prayers as well?"

Marcus stopped short, the terror creeping up on him and hunching over him like a ghost. "No—no it can't—it can't be _possible..._ " Tears flooded his eyes and he fell to his knees. "I'm not real! I'm not real! I'm not real..."

* * *

Years later, a woman in a wheelchair bent over her desk and scribbled away at a scrap piece of paper. Her powdered face bent in concentration as she emptied her creativity onto the page. Now, if only this one scene would come out correctly...

With a curse she let fly the crumpled paper. It hit the wall with a smack and fell to the floor. "In the name of all that is holy, Marcus," she muttered through her teeth. "I wish you wouldn't be so _dramatic!_ "

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 **Review?**


	2. (Bonus Pt Two)

**A/N. So... after a year of dormancy...there is a Part Two drabble to _The Horror of Reality!_ *cue collective gasp from readers* More details after, if you even care.**

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Marcus stepped inside the villa, relishing the pressure of the stone floor beneath his feet. He sighed deeply as he made his way to the kitchen in search of a snack, hoping that Sassticca was (by some miracle) out of the way. He felt just lazy enough to dodge the old cook and avoid her coddling.

Esca was already there, seated at the rough wooden table and cupping a small bowl in his hands. It was half-filled with what looked from here to be wine, and was letting off the slightest bit of steam from the edges. Esca's eyes rose to meet Marcus', and they were ringed with purple.

"Can't sleep?" Marcus asked, hiding the concern in his voice by rifling through a cupboard.

"No." Esca raked a hand through his hair and sighed. "It's the dreams again."

"Who was it this time?"

"A young woman. She had an odd device - she touched it in certain places and words appeared on it, though I couldn't read them. They were jumbled, somehow."

Marcus sat down, his search for food abandoned. "Were they about us?"

"I don't know. Maybe. Probably." He made a small sound of frustration and clutched his cup with a strange ferocity. "She was mumbling to herself, something about...characterization? I think she was frightened, her tone was anxious."

Marcus gaped in awe. "Who could she have been?"

"Who knows?" Esca shrugged and smiled wanly. "Though, I have a feeling she has more power than she thinks she does."

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A teenage girl, engulfed in a hoodie and propped up by pillows, typed uncertainly on her laptop for several minutes before sighing and letting her head fall back against the wall with a _thump._ "No, no. Too weird. This is why you haven't published a book, 'Rin. Too cheesy. _God,_ no. Ugh."

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 **A/N: For the Guest reviewer from a couple of days ago, who said they hoped I still cared enough to add more:**

 **To be honest, Guest, I hadn't planned to. It was meant to be complete crack and super short, just a fun little diddle to divert my mind. To be even more honest...I had forgotten all about it. I wrote this a little over a year ago and a lot has changed since then. But then you reviewed...and here I am. And I've got to say, _thank you so much._ This Pt. 2 little drabble thing may be short and corny and dumb and probably not at all what you were hoping for, but it writing it cheered me up, and I needed a bit of cheering up. I hope you're having as good a day as you made me have today. God bless you, and love from me. :) :***

 **(P.S.) It's lovely to know I'm not the only person in this fandom! Come back to talk if you ever want to.**

 **(P.P.S.) If you (or anyone else) want to send me prompts for this story, I'll consider continuing, but I'll tell you know that I have a pretty busy schedule and may not be able to fill them. I hope you understand. Anyway, send 'em over and I'll do my best.**


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